A Second Chance
by Lady Lightning Bolt
Summary: When Harry, Ron, and Hermione go to Professor Flitwick's class, they expect nothing than a lesson and an explanation for that odd little box Ron found buried near the Whomping Willow...
1. Chapter 1

_Ron and Hermione go into the future somehow. They find that HJP is the Headmaster of Hogwarts and that his loving wife is Bellatrix who has just found out she's pregnant. What do they do? What do they discover?_

Anything you recognize from the Harry Potter books doesn't belong to me.

Harry grinned as he watched the antics of his two best friends as they walked down the hallway towards Charms.

"Hermione, can I _please_ look at it?"

"No, Ronald, because knowing you the second you touch it you will open it. No, I'm taking it straight to Flitwick – it's definitely under some sort of spell and he'd be the best person to know what type."

They turned into the Charms classroom and were greeted by the usual sound of the high-pitched voice of Professor Flitwick squeakily trying to quiet the class. They slipped in quietly into their usual seat near the front.

"Thank you" said Professor Flitwick, directing a glare towards the class. "Now that we are _all_ here," looking particularly hard at Harry, Hermione, and Ron, "we will be working on the Luxet Veritas spell. It is a truth spell – one of the few legal ones. It is a Latin spell meaning 'Light and Truth' and allows the victim to tell only Light secrets – no Dark Arts. It originally came from Roman wizards approximately 2000 years ago…"

Harry zoned out at this point, trusting Hermione to tell him what to do when the time came. He awoke to hear Professor Flitwick say "Divide into pairs and work on the spell after following the instructions on the board."

The lesson passed quickly and enjoyably. At the end, Hermione and Ron jumped up, eager to find out what the box contained. They walked up to Flitwick's desk.

"Um, Professor?" Hermione asked. "We found this box, and we wanted to know what was inside of it but we thought it might be a better idea to take it to you first."

"Hmmm, yes." agreed the professor as he examined the box. He continued to 'hmmm' and mutter to himself for several minutes. Then his eyes lit up. "Ah, yes! This, Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley, Mr. Potter, is a time box. The earlier version of a Time-Turner. It is set to a certain time. They were invented by Merlin, but they have been thought to have all been lost. Where on earth did you find this one?"

"Ron found it," replied Hermione. "Buried down in the grounds near the Whomping Willow."

"Well, by those rights," Flitwick said "Mr. Weasley should be the only person able to open the box."

"Cool!" said Ron excitedly. He rushed forward and grabbed the box from Professor Flitwick's hands. He took the tiny lid off.

"Ron, no!" cried Hermione, grabbing hold of his arm. Harry and Flitwick could only watch helplessly as they were enveloped in a bright white light and vanished.

They were whipped through a tangled mass of colour, a wail of unintelligible voices. They came to an abrupt stop and looked around. The Charms classroom was deserted. Hermione turned to Ron.

"Good job Ron! You've sent us somewhere in time! You idiot!"

"Hang on, hang on. It's not that bad. Let's just go and see Dumbledore. He'll know what to do."

"If Dumbledore is Headmaster right now." Hermione reminded him. "For all we know, we could have gone back five hundred years!"

"Hey, yeah!" said Ron enthusiastically. "I wonder what food was like five hundred year ago?"

"They ate spiders," Hermione said absently, trying to remember the way to the Head's office. "In butter."

Ron shuddered at the thought.

They stopped outside the familiar stone gargoyle when they realised they had forgotten one very important thing – the password.

"Damn it," said Ron, kicking the gargoyle in frustration after trying what felt like a thousand incorrect passwords. To their shock, the gargoyle sprang aside.

"I was only joking." said Ron weakly, staring at the gargoyle in astonishment.

"Come on!" Hermione urged. "We have to see what's going on." She ran up the moving stone staircase, Ron following. Hermione stretched out a hand and softly knocked on the door. They waited with bated breath for… nothing. No voice telling them to enter. They looked at each other, shrugged, and walked in.

On the surface, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. There was the ordinary Headmaster's desk, chair, oddly glittering sparkly objects that rested on spindly tables. But then… On the walls were Quidditch posters, there was several doors leading off the main room which had certainly not been in Professor Dumbledore's room, and so many other little things that suggested to them that, although they were fairly near to their time, Professor Dumbledore no longer lived here.

"Hello?" Hermione called out nervously. "Is anyone here?" she and Ron listened intently. For a moment all was still.

"Shit!" said a male voice audibly. Louder, another (female) shouted "We're busy, leave us alone!"

"Now, darling, you know we can't act like that no matter _what_ we're doing. I am the Headmaster."

"Yes, I know that, but it seems like I never get to see you anymore and after what I just told you…"

"Honey, I'm thrilled you're pregnant but I need to go out there."

"All right, all right. Who is it anyway?"

"I dunno. Hang on, it better not be students. Are you students?"

"Yeah," Hermione replied, finally finding her voice.

"Shit!" the male speaker repeated. "Now they've got a story to tell. The board of governors in gonna love this. Ah, well, better get out there."

A man entered through one of the left hand side doors. He was dressed in Muggle jeans and pulling a shirt on over his head. When his head emerged, Hermione and Ron gasped. The man had uncontrollable black hair peppered with white, twin emeralds for eyes, and an impressive six foot two inches height. "Harry?" Hermione gasped.

The man reacted so quickly it confused them. He pulled out his wand and trained it on them before they had time to register the movement. He looked furious.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't blast you where you stand." he snarled, rage evident in the taut, drawn lines of his face. "I warned you. I told you never to come within my school's ground or so help me Merlin I would kill you. I let your children to attend here and nothing, _nothing_ short of their death would have allowed me to allow you here. How dare you! I know that your children are fine, so why are you here? Come to beg on bended knee for my forgiveness? Or are you just going to demand it like last time?"

He stopped and drew a deep breath. Hermione took advantage of his silence to plead, "But Harry, we don't know what we did to you!"

He stood so still that for a moment it appeared as if he'd stopped breathing. With what looked like a supreme effort of will, he turned to look at them and said, "You don't know what you did to me? All right, let's just recap, shall we?

"Two weeks before I turned sixteen, a large magical explosion was created in Privet Drive. Every person within a mile radius was instantly killed. When Aurors and Ministry personnel arrived, they found me lying unhurt and unharmed at the very centre. It was determined that the curse used had been an extremely Dark one known as the Combustius Curse, and _you_" he pointed to Hermione. "Said that I had been studying a Dark Arts book on the train home that it was mentioned in, and _you_" this time at Ron "testified in front of the Wizengamot that I had turned Dark. I was sentenced to a life term in Azkaban. Ten years later, Rodolphous Lestrange was caught and testified that he and several other Death Eaters had kidnapped me, cast the curse, gave me a few rounds of torture with old Voldie, and then brought me back minutes before the Ministry arrived. When I tried to protest that I hadn't done it, you, Ron, said that I was a filthy traitorous bastard and to rot in Azkaban while your sister screamed that she felt dirty whenever she remembered she had once loved me. You twin brothers stood up and proclaimed my innocence to the courtroom, and you hexed them. They are no longer part of the Weasley family? Is any of this jogging your memory? No? All right, I'll continue…

"When I came out of Azkaban, you all expected me to thank you on bended knee for delivering me from that place. You all thought I was insane. I kept up the pretence. Three days after getting out, I destroyed Voldemort. I then left you all and went to Azkaban, and broke out the woman that had kept me sane, my cellmate, my Bella."

A black-haired woman with heavy eyes and a confused expression walked out of the adjoining room. Her eyes travelled over their faces and came to rest on her husband. Her eyes registered confusion.

"Harry, calm down. Something's not right. Look at them! They can't be more than sixteen!"

Harry breathed heavily for a few moments, and then scanned their faces. He visibly relaxed. "This can't be right…"he mused, almost to himself. He looked at them again, and noticed the box. He sighed loudly. "Why me?" he muttered. Louder, he added, "Where did you get this?"

Ron answered first. "Buried. Near the Whomping Willow. We took it to Flitwick and he said it was a time box. But how can that be? The Harry from our time is already sixteen and he's never been to Azkaban…"

"Flitwick was wrong." Harry said bluntly. "Or, at least, partially incorrect. These were made by Merlin, and they were thought to be time boxes until one was found about ten years ago, just before I was released." A shadow crossed his face. "Yes, anyway, they can transport you over time, but also over realities. From what you've told me, in your reality, I never went to Azkaban, and you and the rest of the Wizarding world never betrayed me, and it appears that you are also about twenty years behind as well. I wonder why that is?"

He showed all the signs of going off into a brown study, but Bellatrix stopped him.

"Dear? What are we going to do about Miss. Granger and Mr. Weasley?"

"Hmm? Ahh, yes, of course. Ron, Hermione, I think one of the spare apartments shall do nicely, don't you think so Bella?"

"Yes, Harry, but maybe you should alter their appearances? I think the two Weasley twins and young Miss. Weasley will be astonished at seeing their parents at sixteen turn up at Gryffindor table tomorrow."

"We have children?" asked Ron in awe.

Harry smiled at the look on his face. "Yes, I do believe you do. Here at Hogwarts, you have a sixteen year old daughter – Molly – and the twins, third-year, Gideon and Fabian. Out of Hogwarts, you have a nine year old, one that's six, a four year old, and another on the way."

"Wow," Hermione said, struck dumb for the first time ever. "That's … unexpected."

"Harry and Bella smiled at their confusion. Harry beckoned. "Ron, come here," Harry requested. Ron walked over towards him, still looking a little wary. Harry passed his hand over Ron's face and muttered a few long-winded incantations. Within seconds, much to the shock of Hermione and the amusement of Bellatrix, Ron shrunk a couple of inches, his famous fiery hair turned a dark brown and his eyes a light green shade, his nose lengthened and he gained a bit of muscle. He turned to Hermione and did the same. Her characteristically bushy hair turned a soft sleek blonde while her eyes became a bright blue; her skin darkened a couple of shades to look tanned. Harry stepped back and admired his work. "There you go. There is no way in hell that anyone will be able to recognise you. Now, I want you to meet me outside the Great Hall tomorrow. Wear this," he tossed them the Invisibility Cloak. "Tipsy!" he called. A small house-elf appeared wearing a tiny pink ensemble appeared. "Yes Master Harry?" she asked in a high pitched voice.

"Take these two to the…Dumbledore room." Harry had a wicked grin on his face. "We'll talk further in the morning. Under no circumstances talk to the students. Goodbye."

They walked out through the doorway, but not before hearing Harry say, "Now darling, where were we?" and a devilish giggle. Ron turned to Hermione in bemusement.

"Harry? With Bellatrix Lestrange?" Hermione shrugged and grinned.

"They seem happy together" Hermione said thoughtfully, and that was all that was said between them until they reached a portrait of a familiar old man with twinkling blue eyes and sequinned robes. "Password?" asked Dumbledore, smiling benignly at them.

"Lemon drops" squeaked the tiny house-elf leading them and Dumbledore swung open to reveal a garishly coloured suite.

Hermione and Ron walked inside and took in their surroundings. There was a tiny octagonal common room except done in lime green and deep purple. There were two doors leading up, as they discovered, into two bedrooms. One done in pink and orange, which Ron immediately claimed (Cannons colours), and the other in a truly horrible red and magenta. They both had a walk in robe and a small connecting bathroom. They met each other back in the common room and grinned. It appeared Harry still had a sense of humour.


	2. Chapter 2

_Ron and Hermione go into the future somehow. They find that HJP is the Headmaster of Hogwarts and that his loving wife is Bellatrix who has just found out she's pregnant. What do they do? What do they discover?_

Anything you recognize from the Harry Potter books doesn't belong to me.

Ron and Hermione hovered by the staircase under the Cloak in the Entrance Hall. They watched Harry make his way down. When he reached the foot of the stairs he nodded at them.

"The school should be eating breakfast right now." he said. "I am going to introduce you as Ronald Black and Hermione Evans. Now, your cover is that you are both foreign exchange students from Salem Magic Academy, America. You were supposed to arrive earlier but were waylaid. Be creative – I don't care. Just make sure your stories match. And I put a spell on your voice so is has a faint American accent. OK, going in. I'll push the doors open when it's time for you to come through."

He pushed open the heavy doors and walked through. They saw a brief glimpse of the Great Hall before the doors slammed such.

Harry walked through the throngs of students up to the teacher's table. He sat down next to his wife and kissed her cheek. "Good morning darling."

Wolf whistles sounded out throughout the Hall. The students grinned as one. "Honestly, you'd think we hadn't done this a hundred times before."

Harry stood up. "Could I have your attention please?" the Great Hall quieted instantly. "Thank you. Now, as part of an experimental exchange program, the Salem Magic Academy in America have sent us two students in sixth-year that will stay in separate rooms of their own. However, last night they were both sorted into Gryffindor and will go to classes on with the Gryffindors and eat at Gryffindor table. May I present," the doors boomed open "Ronald Black and Hermione Evans!"

Ron and Hermione walked through the open doors and over to Gryffindor table. A pretty young woman bearing a striking resemblance to Ginny made some space and gestured for them to sit down. "Hi, I'm Molly" she whispered before Harry started speaking again.

"I trust that you will all make our new students feel at home." Harry sat back down and instantly began eating breakfast. His wife laughed at his furious consuming and hit him on the arm, telling him to slow down.

Meanwhile, Hermione and Ron were instantly embroiled in conversation with the Gryffindors. The smiling young woman who had introduced herself turned out to be their 'daughter' Molly Weasley. A young man who stuck close to Molly turned out to be Mark Thomas, evidently Dean Thomas' son. Not too far away were the twins Gideon and Fabian. Ron idly wondered if anyone had noticed they had the same initials as Fred and George. Judging by the evil grins on their faces, they had.

An Asian boy with an Irish accent turned out to be Byron Finnigan. A thin girl with Parvati Patil's features was evidently her daughter, and introduced herself as Ebony Patil. Rebecca Madison looked familiar, though he didn't know where from. Miranda and Robert Longbottom had the same wide, friendly face, tightly curled chestnut hair, long nose, and friendly face turned out to be twins. Jack Raven was a Muggle-born wizard with chocolate coloured eyes and raven hair. He was the only Muggle-born of the lot and completed the Gryffindor sixth-years.

After breakfast the first class was Transfiguration with Professor Khaefre, an Egyptian bloke. They were working on the immensely difficult art of self-transfiguration. Today they were trying to change the colour of their own eyebrows. Hermione was the first to do it, with the Longbottom twins and Molly following closely behind. (Hermione was amused to note that when they returned their eyebrows to their original colour, the colour her eyebrows and Ron's returned to was the colour Harry had transfigured them to. She silently whistled. That was some transfiguration!)

Their day passed in a haze of colour and noise. It was not very different to any other day, save that they were around other people and minus Harry. When they made their way back to their quarters later that night, they found the portrait open and a fire blazing in the grate. Inside sat Harry and Bellatrix. Harry smiled as they approached.

"I have done some research, and I believe I have found a way to get you back to your own time and dimension. However, it may take some time and you will have to stay for a while. But, I can tell you what I discovered.

"This box, for lack of a better word, was part of a set of seven (the most powerful magical number) created by Merlin approximately one thousand years ago. His aim was to create a time machine, but due to a mispronunciation, he passed out. When he awoke, he discovered he had seven little boxes and a blinding headache. When he was sufficiently rested, he attempted to use one of the boxes. He couldn't. He scattered them across the world in his rage.

"Years later, around 1400 BC, a prophecy was made by a village healer. The prophecy stated that seven people would be able to harness the power of the boxes. Once the person turned sixteen, the box closest to them would try to 'find' them, in one way or another. Of the seven listed, three have not been found. Of the remaining, the 'fire haired seventh son of a seventh son' seems most likely to be you."

Ron nodded, taking it all in his stride. Hermione marvelled at how much more mature he was compared to before. Harry continued, "If you don't mind me asking, if you're the seventh son, then who's missing?"

Ron sighed deeply. "After Charlie, before Percy, we had another brother. He was still born. His name was Graham, and if he had lived, he would be twenty-three – in our time, I mean."

Harry nodded. "OK. We've established that much. Unfortunately, I have no clue how to program it to get you back to your time. Bella is going to take it to an old friend of hers who is an expert on this type of thing, aren't you darling?"

"Mmm-hmm" agreed his wife. "I believe you know him. His name is Severus Snape."

"In the meantime," Harry said "you'll have to stay here. Goodnight."

Harry and Bellatrix made their way out, the portrait closing behind them. Ron and Hermione looked at each other, shrugged, and walked up to their rooms to digest the night's information their own way.

The next day was much like the one before. Ron and Hermione got up, readied themselves for the day, and made their way down to the Great Hall. Their friends greeted them and they sat down.

"What we got first?" Ron asked, pulling a plate of kippers towards him.

"Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid and Olympe." yawned Byron. "In the Forest." Not far away, Gideon and Fabian bent their heads together, whispering (no doubt about some new prank) while their sister frowned in their direction. Hermione stifled a giggle. She looked so much like Hermione herself frowning at Harry and Ron when they hadn't done their homework.

Care of Magical Creatures was blissfully accident free, though Ron and Hermione had fond memories of Malfoy getting savaged and the not-so-fond memories of the Blast-Ended Skrewts and Flobberworms. Hagrid looked much as he did twenty years ago, except slightly greyer and much happier. His happiness may be attributed to Madame Maxime, his wife and co-professor. He seemed to have settled down his monstrous creatures obsession, judging by the fact that no one mentioned his hiding enormous spiders under his bed or dragon eggs in the heart of his fire in his cabin. Speaking of his cabin, it had been replaced by a miniature house the size of his old cabin, evidently magically enlarged on the inside.

The day passed like any other, apart from Ron and Byron making wisecracks through out Divination – Hermione, much to her horror, had been signed up for this class, leaving her vowing to kill Harry at the first opportunity she got. Alas, Sybil Trelawney still taught it, and after thoroughly irritating them all by predicting Ron's death and Hermione's maiming in honour of new students, she managed to get onto the topic of what she was supposed to be teaching.

At dinner that night, they were still laughing about Ron and Byron's antics as they consumed shepherds and pumpkin pie. At the end of their meal, Ron leaned back in his chair (as was his habit), happy after such an enormous meal. Hermione too looked happy, but for different reasons: that enormous stack of homework waiting for her in her common room (as she thought of it; Ron rarely frequented it).they both stood up.

"Well, I think we'd better get up to the common room and start our homework," Hermione stated, looking positively gleeful at the idea.

"Uh-huh," Ron said, looking gloomy.

"Hang on," Molly protested. "You can't go up into that common room all alone. Anyway," she winked. "Ron will need something to do, because you'll be doing his for him."

"I will not!" Hermione argued. Then smiled. "Oh, what the hell. Meet you up there in fifteen minutes? OK. Bye!" she and Ron waved as they set of towards their quarters.

The others looked at each other. "If they're so new here, how do they know the way to the common room?" Byron said slowly. No one answered. What could they say?


End file.
